Stencil typing machine



p 1951 J. PETZ STENCIL TYPING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1949 lNVENTOR JOHN L. PETZ ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1951 J. PETZ STENCIL TYPING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1949 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Ill INVENTOR JOHN L. PETZ ATTO R N EY Sept. 4, 1951 J, 1 PETZ STENCIL TYPING MACHINE 5 Shoots-Sheet 5 Filed March 5, 1949 INVENTOR JOHN L PETZ ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1951 J. PETZ 2,566,959

STENCIL TYPING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR JOHN L. PETZ ATTORNEY Sept. 4, 1951 J. L. PETZ 2,566,959

STENCIL TYPING MACHINE Filed March 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 R JOHN L.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 4, 1951 STENCIL TYPING MACHINE John L. Petz, Poughkeepsie, N. .Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Yor k Application March 5, 1949, Serial No. 79,782

This invention relates to typewriting machines.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine for typing addressing machine stencils.

An object is to provide a simple and efficient means of line spacingthe stencils.

An object is to provide a simple and reliable means for automatically changing the ribbons from writing to stencilling position.

An object is to provide a simple meansof automatically changing the line spacing of the, stencil to enable identifying material to bewritten. on the frame of the stencil and the platen spaced to the position for writing the first stencilledl lle.

Other objects of the invention will bepointed out in the following description, and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,,which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the bestmode, .which has been con templated, of applying thatprinciple.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is aplan viewof. the rear, portion of a typewriting. machine embodying the present invention and primarily shows the carriage of the machine.

the carriage.

Fig. 3 is a right side view of the carriage. Fig. 4 is a left side view of the carriage. Fig. 5 isa largescale view of 'thejmeans for 5. Claims. (01. 197 1s5 writer, formerly known as the Electromatic,"

.2 Fig.2 is a front elevation partly in section of feeding the backing sheet and c'ontrolling the feed thereof.

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the means for controlling the extent of feed of the backing sheet.

Fig. '7 is a vertical section showing the driving connections for the platen line spacing mechanism andv the means for feeding the backing sheet.

Fig. 8 is a view of the stencil.

Fig.9 is a detail view of the means for maintaining the ribbon in writing position during the typing of the identifying line 'on the frame of the stencil.

Fig. 10 is a detail view of the ribbon vibrator operating mechanism.

Fig. 11 is a detail view showing the platen'line spacing mechanism.

Fig. 12 is a vertical section on the line l2-I 2 applied to the-well-known IBM electric typein Fig. 1 and show'sthe stencil in engagement- 5o with one of the driving treads therefor on the solely for the purpose of illustration and it will be understood that the invention may be applied toother typewriting machines whether manually or powerjoperated. Since the typewriter is well known in the, art, only such of its parts as may be necessary, to an understanding of the present invention will be described in detail.

The base of thefmachine is designated 10 in Figs- 1, 3, and 41 and carries the front rail H and the rear rail I2 (Figs. 3 and 4) which support the carriage l3 .by m eans of suitable anti-friction rollers; M in the well-known way. The carriage "l3 l 0l'l'lD1fiS6S the side plates [5 and I6 (Figs. 1' to 4) which are integrally joined by a channel shaped member H to the underside of which is secured the usual escapement rack l8 cooperating with conventional escapement mechanism for effecting a step-by-step character spacing ov m ro ri htto left (Fig. 1) when the usual character keys (not shown) of the'machine are. operated; The carriage is also provided with the usual tabulatin g rack l8 and marginal stop rack 19 secured. to the plates I 5 and 16 in' a well known way. The marginal stop rack carries the usual marginal stops 20 which, in the present case, restrict the movement 'of the carriage to a very narrow zone to correspond with the width of the window in the stencil.

,The plates I5, 15 are joined together at their upper rear corners by a cross rod 2| (Figs. 1 to 4) 'and this cross rod supports two plates 22 on which is removably mounted a rod 23 for supporting a roll of backing paper. In Fig. 1, the right-hand 'end of the rod 23 is shouldered to fit in'a hole in the right-hand plate 22 andthe left-hand plate 22 has an open slot receiving a reduced portion formed in the left-hand end of the rod 23 The left-hand end of rod 23 'is received in a round hole in aspiring retainer 24 (Figs 1 and 4) fastfenedtothe left-handplate 22 which retainer may be sprung to the left (Fig. 1) to permit the removal of a rod 23. The plates 22' are provided lie underneathwhen the backing sheet is in place.

The plates I5 and It at their lower front corners (Figs. 3 and 4) support a cross shaft 26 on which are mounted theplaten' supporting arms 2'! (Figs. 1 to 4, l2; and 13) which arelocated at the ends of the shaft 26 adjacent the plates l5 and 16. "The arms 21 have open slots formed in their ends whichjr'otatably support the platen 28, the platen being retained on the arms by the spring operated latches 29 which permit the removal of the platen 28 as a unit.

The platen 28 is provided with the usual line spacing ratchet 30 (Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 11) which is releasably coupled to the main part of the platen by means of a well known type of variable spacing clutch controlled by the button -3[ in a well known way and the ends of the platen are provided with the usual platen rotating knobs 32. The central portion of the platen 28 which serves as a backing for the stencil material when typing a stencil, consists of a short rubber sleeve. and, adjacent the ends of this sleeve, the platen is provided with the knurled driving wheels 33 which rotate with the rubber sleeve portion. The whole platen assembly may be rotated as a unit by means of either of the knobs 32 and, when the button 32 is pressed to the right (Fig. l), the sleeve. and the rubber wheels 33 are rotatable independently of the ratchet 30.

1 Pivotally mounted on the shaft 25 is a pair of arms 34 (Figs. 1, 2, l2, and 13) which also act as side guides in cooperation with the shorter sides of the stencil when inserting the stencil and the upper ends of the arms 34. are provided with small ro1lers'34a'which bend the rear face of the stencil frame against the knurled rollers 33 for the purpose of line spacing. the stencil. The arms 34 are spring urged in a counterclockwise direction (Figs. 12 and 13) by springs (not shown) and clockwise movement of the arms is limited by engagement of parts thereof with a fixed part of the machine to-permit the platen to be retracted slightly without the rollers 34a following them all of the way for the purpose of inserting the stencil. Adjustably secured to the sides of the arms 34 are the stops 35 which limit downward movement of the stencil (designated S in Figs. 12 and 13). The stencil S is shown in Fig. 8 and comprises an openframe of stiff cardboard in which is mounted a strip (window) of stencil paper. r r 7 It is desired first to write identifying matter, such as the addressees name, on the top cross bar of the stencil frame, then to line space the platen 28 to bring the stencil portion into position for the writing of the first line and to efiect the spacing of thesubsequent lines of the address at shorter line space intervals than the initial spacing. In the present case; the first line of the stencil proper will be assumed to be triple spaced afterthe desired matter has been written on the top part of the stencil frame and subsequent lines of the address will be assumed as single spaced.

The stencil backing sheet passes over the pins '25- and between a feed roller 36 (Fig. 1) and a pressure-roller 31. Thence the backing sheet extends over and betweenthe fixed backing sheet guides 37 suitably supported in the framework and having side guide portions 31a extending at right angles to the platen 28 to guide the edges -of"the backing sheet.' The backing sheet then passes around the front half of the rubber sleeve on the platen 28, underneath a single pressure roller-38,- and'may be torn oiT from time to time asthe stencil operations proceed.

-Means are provided for feeding the backing sheet at a considerably slower rate than the stencils and for thispurpose the roller 36 is mounted 'ona shaft 39 (Fig; which is journalled in the brackets 40, 4| secured to the channel-shaped memberl1. At its left-hand end (Figs. 1 and 7) the shaft 39 is provided with a ratchet wheel 42 4 (see Figs. 5 and 6 also). Rotatably mounted ofi the shaft 39 adjacent the ratchet wheel 42 is a lever 43 (Fig. 5) on which is pivotally mounted at 39a the feed pawl 44 spring urged in a clockwise direction by the spring 45.

Normally, the nose of the pawl 44 engages a flange 45a (Fig. 6) formed in thespacing control lever 47 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 39. The flange 45a is formed in a spring finger 46 (Fig. 7) which is riveted to a curved lug formed in the lever 47 and this finger 45 has a narrowed portion yieldingly engaging teeth formed in an arcuate portion ofthe bracket 49 adjacent the ratchet 42 to hold the lever 47 in any of its set positions. A spring finger 42a carried by the marginal stop rack l9 (Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 7) prevents retrograde movement of ratchet 42.

The lever 43 is urged in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 48 (Figs. 5 and 7) and the arm opposite the pawl 44 has a roller 43a received in the bifurcated end of a lever 49 pivoted on the stud 50 carried by the bracket .40. The lever 49 has a link connection 5| (Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 7) to a rock-lever 52 pivoted at 53a to a bracket 53 carried by the channel shaped member IT. The lever 52 has three arms, one of which has the link connection 5| aforesaid, and another of which is formed as a hook 52a (Figs. 2, 4, 7 and 11) to which is connected the usual carriage return tape 54.

When the carriage return key is depressed and the carriage return mechanism is rendered effective, the initial tension on the tape 54 rocks the lever 52 counterclockwise (Fig. 7) raising the link 5! and through the lever 49 rocking the lever 43 clockwise (Fig. 5). This causes the pawl 44 to ride off the flange 45a, after an extent of movement determined by the setting of the flange 46a, into engagement with a tooth in the ratchet 42 which then will be rotated an extent depending on thesetting of the lever 41. By rotating the lever 41' in either direction (Fig. 6) the extent to which the ratchet 42 will be rotated may be varied.

A third arm of the lever 52 (Figs. 7 and 11) has a slot into which projects the lug 55a formed in the usual platen linespacing slide 55. The latter is best shown in Fig. 11. The line spacing mechanism is similar to the one disclosed in Patent 1,957,322 and includes a line space control lever 56 (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 7, and 11) pivotally mounted on a fixed. stud 51 carried by the lefthand plate 15. This lever has a stud 56a (Figs, 1 and 11) which can cooperate with either of two notches formed in the line space stop arm 58 pive oted on a stud 59v carried by the plate [5. The slide 55 pivotally carries the line spacing pawl 60 (Figs. 7 and 11) which is normally held (11 engaged from the ratchet 35 by engaging the end of the stop arm 58. p

The slide'55 is urged upwardly by a spring 6| (Fig. 7) coiled around the pivot 53a for lever 52 and engaging a pin carried by said lever 52 and a part of the channel shaped member IT. This spring tends to rock the lever 52 clockwise and thereby raise the slide 55 and is considerably stronger than the spring which urges the pawl into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet 35 so that normally the slide 55 is held in the position determined by the setting of the pin 56a in one of the notches 58a, 58b. The engagement of the arm 58 with the pawl 69 tends to rock the pawl clockwise to engage a portion of the latter with the edge of the slide 55 as shown a elier-r9 in Fig. '11, in "which position the pawl fi'wis' clear of the'ratchet'30.

With the 'pin 56a in the position "-of" Fig. '1 1 in notch "5Ba,'the arm '58 is held in itsupper position allowingthe maximumtra'v'el of "the slide 55 downwardly and thereby the greatest lines'pac- "ing. The notch 58a in the present casedet'eb mines the triple 'spa'cingof thepl'aten. "When "the lever 56 is thrown clockwise to carry the'pin 56a into the notch 58b, the arm-58ands'lide 55 will be cammed downwardly and reduce the amount that the'slide 55 canr'es'tore toanextent "to permit only one line space when theslide 55 is again'drawn downwardly'by the tap'e"'54. As

will be seen, means are provided to operate the lever 56 in this fashion, when line spacingafter writing the first line on the frame, sothat'the platen will be triple 'spacedand at the same time the line' spacing mechanism will be automaticacally set for single spacing "forsubsequentoperthe bracket 40 and a-simila'r stud carried bythe bracket 4|. Springs 53 f which there is one for each arm 62, urge the arm 62 'ina counterclockwise direction (Fig-) to engage the pressure roller 31 withthe feed roller 36. Ina'similar fashion, the roller 38' is mounted on a shaft 64 (Figs. 1 to 5'a'nd'7) carried by the arms 55 also .iou'rnalled on thestuds 5U. 'The'arms 65 are urged in a clockwise 'dide'ction (Fig. 5) by means *or the toggle springs 66.

For the purpose'of inserting the stencils, there is provided means 'for'movin'g' 't'heplate'n backwardly away from typing position. Secured to the ends of the shaft "26 are the arms 61 (Figs. 1 to 4) to'which are pivot'edliriksBB. These links extend upwardly and "towardtherea'r (Figs. 3

and 4) and'are"pivoted"to lev'ersE'Q"which, in turn, are pivoted at-I Sa andlfia to' the plates l5 and [6, respectively. The'links 68"are' curved to pass around the pivots 15a;'lBa"and"thepivots are in lineso that the links 68 act substantially as toggle links. The levers "69 areprovided with three arms, of whichone of each is connected "to a cross rod (Figs '1" and2) 'sotha't thetwo levers 69 rotate asa unit on the "pivotsl5a, 16a. A second arm of-each 'ha's" connected thereto a r "spring 12 (Figs. 1 to 4) 'whichis alsoconnected to the pivot point of the corresponding link 63 to the arm 61 and tends "'to'rock the'leve'rs 69 counterclockwise in 'Fig. 3"a-n'd clockwise in Fig.

-4, but rotation of thelevers is limited by contact of the links withfthe'side's'offthe'pivots-l5a, 16a. It is apparent thatwhen' the levers Hare rotated clockwise in Fig.3, thelinks' '68 'willmoveaway from the pivots Isa, ism-ans "be thrust'downwardly rocking the shaft 26 counterclockwise from the position ofFig. "12 "to the'position "of Fig. 13 and releasing the 'knurled wheels33" from the rear face'of the'fra'meof the 'stencil'or, if

the stencil S isnotin' place, opening up'ia free space permitting thestencil to be inserted and pushed downwardly 1 until arrested by the stops 35.

Forthe purpose ofoper ating the levers 59in this manner, there isprovidfd the lever "'(Figs. 1 to 4) which isjourrialledbnfl'the tie rod'fil. The lever 14 has a wrist piece Tim-preferably formed of moldedlplasticj-and 'is' adj'ustably con- "nected to anarm l 5-also pivotal-1y mounted on the rod 2|. The arm -"15 arid the lever-M are *adjustably connected by the 'clamping bb'lt 16 GFig. 3') "which passes through a curved slet 'fcrin e'd in the lug T4b comprising 1 the eit'ens'ion of helever 14 and is receiv'ed in a round h'el'e in-a similarlug formed in the arm 15 so' that the -'ar1n 75 *may be adjusted relative to the lever-"' |'4. The-arm 15' extends over a rollercarried by the pivot pin 6 8a connecting the right-hand link $8 to the right-hand lever fifl. When-the arm Il -is pushed downwardly,'-as by resting the *wri'ston "the wrist piece'Ma, the arm ".5 is thrust downwardl-y'or counterclockwise (Fig. 3) thereby rocking the levers 69 clockwise and effecting the retraction of the-platen.

"With'reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the operator may take a stencil, rest the wrist "on the wrist piece'l la, and insert the stencil in fr'on't of the platen by practicallyone continuous movement thus "reducing the number of operations necessary to insert the stencil to the absolute minimum. When the operator performs this operation, a stud 69a (Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 11) onthe left hand lever 69 moves to the rear of the machine and by engaging the arm 56, rocks the arm "counterclockwise (Fig. 11) to move the'lever 56 and pin 56a into the triple spacing position. Due 'to the shape of the arm between the notches 58a, 58bgan'd the position of the stud 5? in relation to this part of the arm, it is only necessary that "the pin 56a be pushedout of the notch 5817 so that by the pressure exerted by the spring BI on the slide '55 which is communicated upwardly '(Fig. 11) to the arm 58 by the pawl 60, the lever *will be snapped in a counterclockwise direc- "tion until it is stopped by the notch 58a which in" reality is merely a stop shoulder on the arm -58although it has a somewhat notched appearance.

The operator now proceeds to type on the upper part of the stencil frame and'after completing this operation, presses the carriage return 'key'to effect a return of the carriage and line space the platen three line spaces. A pin 69a on pawl (Figs. 7 and 11) overlies an'extension of the arm 5% and rocks the arm 56 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 11) when slide 55 moves downwardly, forcing the stop bar 58't0 follow the slide "55 until the pin 56a again enters the notch 58b. 'When the tension on the carriage return tape '54 is slackened, the spring 6| will restore the slide 55 upwardly in Fig. 11 and it will be stopped after only the equivalent of a single line space *movement of the slide due to the fact that the pin'56a is now in slot 581). The platen will now be line spaced one line space at a time for each succeeding operation of the carriage return key until the lever 74 is again depressed,

'The first line on the frame of the stencil is "printed by means of the usual inking ribbon and, when the platen is line spaced to efiect the initial triple-spacing operation, the ribbon vibrator mechanism is automatically shifted to stencil position. The ribbon vibrator mechanism may be "the same as the one disclosed in Patent 1,950,762, "but it will be understood, however, that other ribbon mechanisms may be used if desired and the disclosure herein of a particular form of ribbon vibrator mechanism is purely illustrative.

Fig. 10 illustrates the ribbon vibrator mechanism which includes a leverl'l pivoted atlilto -a 'fixed part of the machine. This lever has'a "link connection 19 to'the universal bar usually --provided in the machine for operating the ribbon 'fme'chanism so that the lever ll is rocked clockwise afixed amount each time a typebar is op- '-erated. -The lever -ll-hasa -T-shaped slot Ila.

7 7 formed therein and received in the slot is a stud 8la carried by a link 8| pivoted at 82a to an arm 83 on the shaft 84. The stud 8| :1 is connected to a link 85, the upper end of which is pivotally connected to an arm 86 pivotally mounted at 86a on a suitable stud. The free end of the arm 86 is pivotally connected to the ribbon vibrator 81,

the upper end being provided with means for supporting the ribbon at the writing point.

Considering the shaft 84 as held in the position of Fig. 10, it is apparent that each oscillation of the lever 71 will raise the link 85 and the left-\ hand end of the arm 35, thereby elevating the ribbon vibrator 81 and the ribbon carried thereby to the printing position. The parts repeatedly move to this position during the writing of the first line and are automatically shifted by means of mechanism most clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3, '7, 9, and 10. The shaft 34, near the middle of the machine, has fixed to it an arm 88 (Figs. 3, 9, and on the side of which is mounted a long pin 88a which extends from approximately the center of the machine to a point close to the right-hand side of the base if] or approximately half the length of the carriage rails I I, I2. Pivotally mounted on the right-hand side of the bracket 4| (Fig. 9) is a latch lever 89 which is urged in a clockwise direction by a spring 90. A spring 9| urges the arm 89 in a counter-clockwise direction against the depending arm of the latch lever 89. Slidably mounted in the bracket 40 is a latch rod 92 which in Fig. 9 projects beyond the bracket 4! into the plane of the latch lever 89 and prevents rotation thereof under the combined tension of the springs QB, 9|. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 9, the shaft 84 will be held in the position of Fig. 10 thereby causing the ribbon to be raised to the writing position. The latch rod 92 extends well beyond the bracket 40 (Figs. 1 and 7) to a point more than half way to the plate and has secured to it a small plate 520, lying in the path of rotation of a lug 52b in the lever 52.

When the stencil is triple spaced after writing the first line on the frame, the lug 52b travels to the left (Fig. 7) and pulls the rod 92 to the left sufficiently to move the right-hand end of the rod shown in Fig. 9 out of engagement with the lever 89, thereby permitting the springs 95, ill to actuate the latch lever 89 clockwise and permit the spring 9| to actuate arm 88 and shaft 84 clockwise to cause counterclockwise movement of the shaft 84 (Fig. 10). This movement carries the pin file into the vertical part of the slot Tia so that the next operation of the lever 11 in typing the first line of the name and address will be idle and the ribbon will not be raised to the writing position. Thus, the name and address will be written in the window of the stencil without the use of the inking ribbon.

Cooperating with the pin 89a to which the spring 90 is anchored is a stud 26a (Fig. 9) carried by the shaft 26, the stud 25a being secured to a suitable collar carried by the shaft 26 to en.- able the position of the stud to be adjusted. When a new stencil is inserted, the shaft 26 is rocked counterclockwise to the position of Fig. 13, or clockwise in Fig, 9, thereby rocking the latch lever 89 positively in a counterclockwise direction. This allows a spring 93 (Fig. 1) curled around the latch rod 92 and interposed between the bracket 49 and a suitable collar on the rod 92, to push the rod 92 to the right with reference to Fig. 1 to again bring the right-hand end of therrod 92 into the position of Fig. 9 thereby relatching the latch lever 89. This movement of the lever 89 actuates the shaft 84 clockwise (Fig. 10) to replace the stud 8 I a in the horizontal portion of the slot 11a (Fig. 10) in readiness for writing the matter on the frame of the stencil.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that'various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for typing on addressing machine stencils having a frame and a window of stencil material, a carriage, a platen rotatably mounted in the carriage and having a backing roller for said window and knurled driving treads cooperating with the frame of the stencil on opposite sides of said window, stencil supporting and guiding fingers for holding said frame in engagement with said treads, said fingers including stops coacting with said frame to hold the stencil in a position to type an initial line on the top part of said frame, means to effect a separation between said fingers and said treads to permit insertion of a stencil, and a manual lever for operating the separating means.

2. In a machine for typing addressing machine stencils having a frame and a stencil window,

a carriage, a platen rotatably mounted in said carriage and having a backing roller for said window and toothed driving members engageable with the sides of said stencil frame, spring actuated guide fingers for said stencil and having rollers for pressing the stencil frame against said toothed members and shaped to engage the sides of said frame to guide the stencil vertically, stop means associated with said fingers for holding the stencil with the top part of said frame in a position initially to receive a first typed line, mechanism to line space said stencil to a second position to receive the first line on the stencil window and including a control lever settable to a first. position to cause the spacing movement between said initial typing position and said second typing position to be effected differently from subsequent line spacing movements and settable to a second position to change the line spacing for subsequent lines, means for mounting said platen for movement to open a passage for free insertion of said stencil between said platen and said rollers, a member for effecting said movement of said platen, means controlled by said member for shifting said lever to said first position, and means for operating said line spacing mechanism including means to shift said lever to said second position concurrently with a line spacing operation.

3. In a machine for typing on a stencil having a frame and a stencil window, a carriage, a

platen having a backing portion for said window and a pair of feed wheels engageable with the rear faces of the sides of the stencil frame for feeding said stencil in a line spacing direction, means for mounting said platen on said carriage for limited rearward movement to permit insertion of a stencil in front of said backing portion, means to feed a backing sheet around said backing portion, line spacing mechanism to impart line-spacing rotation to said platen including a member settable in a first line space position and in a second line space position to determine two diiferent extents of line spacing of said platen and said stencil, a pair of guide fingers for guiding a stencil tangent to the platen and havin means to press said stencil against said feed wheels and stop means for arresting a stencil inserted between said platen and said fingers with the top part of the stencil frame in a first line typing position, a manual lever for actuating the platen mounting means to separate said feed wheels from said fingers and thereby open a passage for free insertion of a fresh stencil and at the same time setting said member in its first line space position, ribbon control mechanism including a control lever settable in an active ribbon position by said manual lever and in an inactive ribbon position, means for operating the line spacing mechanism and the backing sheet feeding means after each line of typing on the stencil, means actuated by the line spacing mechanism for setting said member in its second line space position and means rendered effective by the operating means for setting the control lever in inactive ribbon position upon the operation of the line spacing mechanism after the first line is typed on the frame of the stencil whereby all subsequent lines on the stencil window will be typed without the ribbon and with a difierent line spacing.

4. In a machine for typing on a stencil having a frame and a stencil window, a carriage, a platen having a backing portion for said window and a pair of feed wheels engageable with the rear faces of the sides of the stencil frame for feeding said stencil in a line spacing direction, means for mounting said platen on said carriage for limited rearward movement to permit insertion of a stencil in front of said backing portion, means to feed a backing sheet around said backing portion, line spacing mechanism to impart line-spacing rotation to said platen including a member settable in a first line space position and in a second line space position to determine two different extents of line spacing of said platen and said stencil, a pair of guide fingers for guiding a stencil tangent to the platen and having means to press said stencil against said feed wheels and stop means for arresting a stencil inserted between said platen and said fingers with the top part of the stencil frame in a first line typing position, a manual lever for actuating the platen mounting means to separate said feed wheels from said fingers and thereby open a passage for free insertion of a fresh stencil and at the same time setting said member in its first line space position, ribbon control mechanism including a control lever settable in an active ribbon position by said manual lever and in an inactive ribbon position, a latch for holding said control lever in the active ribbon position, means for operating the line spacing mechanism and the backing sheet feeding means after each line of typing on the stencil, means actuated by the line spacing mechanism for setting said member in its second line space position and means actuated by the operating means for releasing the latch upon the operation of the line spacing mechanism after the first line is typed on the frame of the stencil whereby all subsequent lines on the stencil window will be typed without the ribbon and with a different line spacing.

5. In a machine for typing a stencil having a frame and a stencil window, a platen, means to guide said stencil tangent to said platen for a line spacing movement thereof by said platen, line spacing mechanism including an operating lever therefor, ribbon control mechanism including a control lever settable in a ribbon active position and movable to a ribbon inactive position, a latch releasable by said operating lever for holding said control lever in ribbon active position, and a manual lever for actuating said control lever to said ribbon active position when inserting a new stencil in the guide means.

JOHN L. PETZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,827,293 Lawrence Oct. 13, 1931 1,943,428 Gabrielson Jan. 16, 1934 2,285,086 Handley June 2, 1942 2,345,557 Elliott H Apr. 4, 1944 

